“The fourth typhoon in a month hit the PhilippinesTyphoon “Toraji” hit the Philippines, forcing the evacuation of 2,500 villages and closing the ports. This is the fourth typhoon in less than a month, the previous three claimed 159 lives.”, — write on: unn.ua
Details
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage as Typhoon Toraji made landfall on the country’s northeastern coast near the town of Dilasag, about 220 kilometers northeast of the capital Manila, according to the national weather agency.
“We have been hit by strong winds and rain. Some trees are falling and the electricity has been cut since yesterday,” Mervina Pabloo, chief of civil defense in Dinalungan town near Dilasag, told AFP.
“We cannot yet go outside to assess the damage,” she said.
At least 1,400 people have been evacuated from coastal areas, Dinalungan districts and Baler municipality, according to disaster relief official Donald Allan Tai.
In total, the government ordered the evacuation of 2,500 villages on Sunday, although as of Monday the national emergency management did not have data on the total number of evacuees.
According to the weather service, Toraji, with a maximum wind speed of 130 kilometers per hour, was moving quickly to the northwest and, according to forecasts, on Monday evening, after passing through the mountainous interior of the main island of Luzon, it will enter the South China Sea.
Schools and government offices were closed in areas expected to be hardest hit by the latest typhoon.
The National Meteorological Agency warned of strong winds and heavy rains in the north of the country, as well as a “moderate to high risk of storm surge” – giant waves threatening the coast of the main island of Luzon.
About 700 passengers were stranded in ports on Monday, the Coast Guard said, and the weather service warned that sea travel was dangerous for all types and tonnages of vessels.
After Toraja, a tropical depression could potentially hit the region as early as Thursday evening, forecaster Veronica Torres told AFP.
She added that Tropical Storm Man-yi, currently east of Guam, could also threaten the Philippines next week.
Toraji followed three cyclones in less than a month that killed 159 people.
Addition
On Thursday, Typhoon Yinxing hit the country’s northern coast, damaging homes and buildings. A 12-year-old girl died in one incident.
Earlier, Tropical Storm Trami and Super Typhoon Kong Ray combined killed 158 people, the national emergency agency said, with most of the deaths recorded during Trami.
About 20 major storms and typhoons hit the Philippines or nearby waters each year.
A recent study found that storms in the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly forming closer to coastlines, intensifying faster and lasting longer over land due to climate change.